Well, if you're talking outside of Rap/Hip-Hop...
Van Halen (1984 and 5150)
Motley Crue (albums #1, #2, and #4 in particular)
Guns 'N Roses (APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION)
Bruce Springsteen (BORN IN THE USA)
John Cougar Mellencamp (AMERICAN FOOL and thereafter)
Prince (1999, PURPLE RAIN and SIGN O' THE TIMES)
The Time (everything)
Cameo (WORD UP in particular)
Talking Heads (reached their peak in the '80s w/ REMAIN IN LIGHT)
The Pixies (SURFER ROSA)
Cyndi Lauper (SHE'S SO UNUSUAL and "The Goonies 'R Good Enough")
The Stray Cats (where Brian Setzer got his start)
Men At Work (that saxaphone was cheesy in a glitzy '80s way)
Foreigner (good hard power pop band)
Loverboy (yeah, their ballads could get mushy, but they had some good, driving hard rock-type songs kind of like Foreigner)
The Cars (songs like "You Might Think", "Drive", "Shake It Up," etc.)
Michael Jackson (admit it--THRILLER was the shit, although I seem to remember MTV played those videos so much that everyone in my class got sick of him due to the sheer overexposure)
Bon Jovi and Def Leppard (same story as Michael Jackson; SLIPPERY WHEN WET and PYROMANIA were awesome, but they got a little overexposed for me as well)
PEACE!